Strange New Worlds
by OneDarkandStormyNight
Summary: A collection of short stories and drabbles featuring the crew of the Enterprise and the friendships that make them strong together. #3: Glance. Summary: aka What Happens When Your Not-Always-Vulcan Boyfriend Sits at the Station Beside Yours.
1. Chapter 1

_Two new fandoms within two days. I'm on a roll.  
So I just have to say that I've kind of fallen in love. I saw the first Star Trek movie in 2009 but I never really was that into scifi so I didn't pay it too much attention. Then, last Saturday, I saw the second one in theaters. I've seen it three times now and I want to see it again this week. I've also started watching the originals and once you get past the painfully retro design, those are pretty amazing stories, too. It's almost scary how quickly my sisters and I fell in love with Spock. Seriously. I think it's the ears and that knocking people out with his fingertips thing he does._

* * *

**The Strength I Need**

It was sort of amazing, and maybe slightly weird, when it finally dawned on him.

It wasn't until the comments had been floating around for months after the Khan incident that a loud, aged Starfleet captain half-teasingly pointed it out to him after a general meeting of captains one day.

"That Vulcan first officer of yours—does it ever get frustrating, having him right over your shoulder all the time? What, is he worried the Enterprise will fall apart if he isn't?"

The man chuckled (apparently assuming Jim understood what he meant), clapped him on the shoulder companionably, and walked away. Jim considered his words for a moment, as Spock approached him calmly while the others dispersed, and then he understood.

"It just might," he murmured.

"What was that, Captain?" Spock stopped in front of him, hands locked behind his back, deep, dark eyes searching his friend's face.

"Nothing." He circled him. "Come on. I think Scotty wanted me for something earlier."

He went toward the base labs, Spock falling into step behind him.

* * *

_They just look so cool and natural together. More soon!_


	2. Chapter 2

_So I have officially graduated high school. My speech was inspired by Shawn Spencer of Psych. It was unplanned and full of ridiculousness instead of the usual sap of these speeches, but it was my last chance to be not-ordinary and I **liked** it. xD  
Anyway, here's drabble 02, set in Into Darkness, when Jim and Spock are going to the emergency meeting of captains and first officers toward the beginning. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Captain**

The general definition of the word "captain" was: _a person who is in authority over others_; its synonyms included: _authority, leader, _and _director_. Every type of intelligent civilization on any given planet in the entire known universe had some version of a captain in its society. As for the English-based Starfleet, every starship captain was considered just as qualified as the rest, every ship an honor to serve aboard. He himself had already been under the command of one captain, for however short a time; doubtlessly he would serve under more.

All of this should have culminated in his mind at the very moment he learnt of Kirk's being demoted, but the old title still managed to slip out of his mouth as they conversed. He determined the fault to lie with the more human tendencies of his memory; Kirk had been his captain for several months now, after all. The Vulcan of his mind would have registered the information fully within minutes and he would never make the mistake again.

James T. Kirk was no longer his captain and probably never would be again. It was only the simple truth, easy to accept and process.

Why, then, did it feel so inexplicably _wrong_ to look away from him to greet his new one?

* * *

_Because I know that surely it was obvious to everyone there when Spock froze for a second. That poor other captain didn't even know who he was replacing in Spock's life._


	3. Chapter 3

**Stay**

Nothing else he felt in that moment, however overwhelming, could ever compare with the absolute, suffocating despair that rushed through his veins like ice when he realized that among the dead would be counted the first man who had ever cared for him.

Spock watched him as he wept over Pike's bloodstained jacket, never pulling himself away from the scene as any other Vulcan would. He never moved when Jim gripped his shoulder, but instead endured the torrent of emotion that shocked his orderly, controlled mind without so much as a flinch. He allowed the man to use him to steady himself, and let him hold on just one second longer.

As the tendrils of grief lingered in the skin of his shoulder from the other man, Spock of Vulcan never even noticed how little it disturbed him. If he hadn't been there to hold Jim up, no one would have, and though he did not yet realize it himself, something had made him accept that as a good enough reason to stay.

So stay he did, and later he would understand. He held Jim up in more ways than one.

* * *

_This was originally supposed to be in Jim's POV, but I just love the beauty of Spock's telepathy and how it potentially blends with his bond with Jim, so there._


	4. Chapter 4

**Glance  
**(aka **What Happens When Your Not-Always-Vulcan Boyfriend Sits at the Station Beside Yours**)

Vulcans didn't _peek_.

And they most definitely didn't peek _shyly_.

Spock wasn't an ordinary Vulcan, though, and nobody knew that better than she did (with the exception of, maybe, the Captain). Still, the first time, she thought she must have imagined it; it was just a little too…illogical.

Then, it happened again. When she cut her gaze to the side (trying to be inconspicuous about it because surely she _must_ be wrong), he was staring down at his station with as much world-blocking concentration as ever—a little conspicuous in itself, in fact, considering the screen in front of him was still loading his selected file.

She refrained from any kind of reaction, still determined to stay unassuming about the whole matter.

But he was just a little too slow the next time, and when she spun around in her chair to give Kirk her update, the soul-deep, dark eyes darted down just at the right moment for her to notice. That might have been his intention all along, though, since when she carefully mimicked him, shooting a tiny glance toward his station, his glance met it head-on before flickering away just as quickly.

She valiantly kept from grinning as she worked, but she'd seen the eyebrow move.

Message received and translated.

And if she took just a little too long rising from her chair the next time, and looked just a little too intently at him while she did, and maybe had her eyebrows send him a message of their own, well. Xenolinguistics _was_ her specialty.

* * *

_I generally dislike female characters, but as luck would have it, I like Nyota just by herself. The fact that he's adorable and they're perfect for each other just seals it completely._


End file.
